Erin Krestan

As a student at Mountain Ridge High School in Glendale, Arizona, Erin Krestan was a member of Common Cause, a Christian club that met on campus. In order to promote her club, Erin asked to add an announcement to Mountain Ridge’s morning bulletins (which other student clubs used to advertise their activities), inviting anyone interested to join Common Cause at the flagpole before school to pray for their peers and teachers.

School officials told her she’d have to remove the word “prayer” from the announcement. Erin asked why, and was told that using that word over the school p.a. system was “unconstitutional” and “offensive.”Erin asked for the printed copy of her announcement back; instead, the vice principal tore it up and threw it away. Erin tried meeting with school officials, but when they remained adamant, Alliance Defending Freedom filed suit against Mountain Ridge on behalf of Erin and her parents, Kevin and Lynn Krestan, for denying Common Cause equal access to the same public school facilities made available to other groups.

A federal judge later issued a preliminary injunction in Erin’s favor, ordering the school to allow her club’s announcement while the lawsuit against the discriminatory policy went forward.